It pays to stick to the knitting – and in the business of architectural drafting and design the old adage has stood the test of time for two Sydney women in a partnership still going strong after 25 years.

A shared mantra of keeping it simple and doing what they do best has been the modus operandi since Angela Kent and Georgina Stromland launched Kenstrom Design in 1987.

Stromland cheerfully admits they have never done any marketing. She says they only set up a website so “people could find us on Google maps and see we are registered". Kent and Stromland resolutely refuse to expand and add more professional staff. They even share the same business email address – “so if one falls over, the other one knows what’s going on," says Kent. “We are very old-fashioned."

Each year Kenstrom Design employs an architecture student to do simple drafting, take calls, act as receptionist and librarian, prepare sample boards and carry out various other supporting jobs.

“It’s good, paid work experience and we can’t do it all ourselves," Kent says.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

She says Kenstrom has never been busier, with a book full of projects slated for three years ahead.

Kenstrom central is a compact, 65-square-metre strata shopfront in a terrace row in Woolloomooloo, next to Sydney’s central business district, which they bought in their own names for $175,000 in 1990. They lease it back to the business for $2200 a month.

There is just enough room for Kent and Stromland and their assistant.

The pair are only as busy as they judiciously choose to be. They pay themselves by billable hours – the more hours worked, the more they take home. Both fill in a time sheet every day.

They admit the time sheet format is “antiquated" but, after each job, they use it for a retrospective analysis and review of their fee structure and scope of service.

Unusually, Stromland took home 35 per cent more salary than Kent in the 2011-12 financial year because she worked seven days a week on some bigger jobs. That was her choice. “It’s a bit of an aberration," Stromland says. “I was concerned that the GFC might cause clients to stall or not proceed, so I said ‘yes’ to everything.

“Of all the professions, we are the least essential," Kent chimes in.

Profit at the end of each year is split 50-50 and if cash flow is healthy there is a salary bonus.

The breezy but professional calm of the office reflects the amiable relationship shared by the two women, who met in architectural school at the University of NSW and whose business has been structured to stay on course and flourish amid the ebb and flow of marriages, births and divorces – experiences shared by many women in their early 50s.

Kent says that when the business started they paid themselves $36,555 each. But by the next year they realised the vagaries of family life could take one out of the office for extended periods and have an unfair impact on the other, which led to the billable hours model.

“That was the huge breakthrough," she adds. “We trust each other to be equally efficient." Kent lived overseas for two years in the early 2000s, meaning no billable hours, while Stromland soldiered on.

Fees are consistent with architectural practice – clients are charged by the hour initially and then pay a percentage of the project cost once there is a commitment to proceed. There is no charge for the first meeting with Kenstrom, says Kent, but “as soon as pen hits paper" an hourly rate of $220 kicks in. It was $65 an hour in 1987.

They turn away work for projects under $500,000 and fees range from 12 per cent to 17 per cent of contract value.

Kent and Stromland say they use a stable of trusted building contractors who tender a lump sum for each project, although they will always engage new builders “if their work stacks up well".

Theirs is undoubtedly a niche market, covering private homes in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and north shore, with some country and coastal holiday homes in the mix.

“We are not dealing with the highly leveraged end of town," Stromland points out. “We are dealing with people who are managing their finances conservatively and responsibly and if they engage an architect they will pay."

A key to their longevity and reputation is, says Kent, their “brutal honesty".

“We front-end load the bad news," she says. “Sometimes people will look for other architects who give a more optimistic view on cost and time. We stand up for what we do and our bills have always been paid."

Another reason they say the partnership works is they do not take work home and they always put a high priority on family life. Kent has two adult daughters, while Stromland’s twins are nearing the end of high school.

Word of mouth referrals have driven the business virtually from day one. Both had been offered partnership at the Sydney firm that took them on after graduation, but they decided to go out on their own instead. “We were full of enthusiasm and misguided confidence," they say.

Each borrowed $10,000 from family members and paid them back within a year. The company structure gives Kent and Stromland each 49 per cent voting rights and their lawyer has 2 per cent “to break any deadlock" – so far not an issue. They use the services of a bookkeeper, who has been with them for 10 years, for one day a week.

Proudly traditional – “it’s part of our ethos" – the pair do not use the modern architectural computer-aided drafting systems, and prefer to hand-draft their detailed plans. “It’s not a dollar-driven thing, we just like drawing," says Kent. “And the plans communicate our intentions as well as the computer-driven versions."

The website was built by a relative for about $1850. “Kenstrom Design is not avant-garde, nor does it enter awards or competitions," says Kent. “We don’t have the free time and we are doing profitable work!"

Over the next 10 years Kent is looking at adjusting her work to allow time for more travel. A divorce in 2005 diminished Stromland’s billable hours for that year, but she is fixed firmly on the future. “I will be working until I fall in a hole," she says.